Crumpton leads Falls

No. 1-ranked large school Niagara Falls got off to a fast start, withstood a Kenmore West rally, then pulled away again for an impressive 82-58 victory over seventh-ranked Ken West in their Niagara Frontier League game Tuesday night in Niagara Falls.

Jermaine Crumpton led the Wolverines with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Ramir Burton, filling in for injured point guard J.J. Wilson, had 15 points and 10 assists.

“Jermaine got us off to a good start. He had a 14-point first quarter and brought a lot of energy,” said Niagara Falls coach Sal Constantino. “They knocked it down a couple of times, one time down to three points, but I think it took a lot out of them to get it close. Tikere Talands gave us a big boost in the second half.”

Talands finished with 14 points.

Shay Cuadra of Kenmore West matched Crumpton’s 24 points.

Williamsville North, ranked No. 5 among large schools in Western New York, followed up its win at Jamestown with another road win in ECIC I. Led by Sterling Taplin, the Spartans (8-1, 4-1 ECIC I) triumphed at Frontier, 57-40. Taplin had 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

MEC closes fast in Yale Cup

Middle Early College survived a slow start before Keir Anderson led a rousing second half performance in a 71-57 victory over South Park in Yale Cup basketball.

Anderson, who sat out most of the second quarter with three fouls, scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half. South Park led, 31-27, at halftime but was outscored 44-26 the rest of the way.

“We really struggled in the first half except for a run at the end,” said MEC coach Randall Rich. “Brian Brown and Kevin Briggs kept us in it. Together, they scored 23 of our 27 points in the first half.

“We played real good defense and Anderson got going,” Rich said of the winning surge.

Heinold passes 1,000

Taylor Heinold of Immaculata hit a three-point shot with 22 seconds left to pass the 1,000-point mark for her career with the Bears in a 62-42 nonleague victory over visiting Holland. Heinold, whose father, Chris, played at Canisius College (1983-87), went into the final quarter needing eight points to hit 1,000. Despite being double- and triple-teamed she had nine points in the frame to finish with 31 for the game and 1,001 for her career. She also had 11 rebounds.

Elsewhere, Sacred Heart (8-0, 3-0 Monsignor Martin), ranked No. 1 among Western New York large schools in girls basketball, shut out Mount Mercy, 14-0, in the opening quarter and went on to a 55-26 triumph. Chelsea Smith and La’Trice Hall each had 11 points as nine different players scored for the Sharks. … In ECIC II, Kendra Quinn-Moultrie scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds as No. 5 large school Hamburg blew past Williamsville South, 65-37. … No. 3-ranked Jamestown withstood a 25-point performance by Natalie Galus of Frontier and defeated the Falcons, 67-62. A huge force for the Red Raiders (5-0 ECIC I) was Chrisana Green who had 19 points and 25 rebounds.